Presence based telephony

ABSTRACT

A device is provided including a processor and a display configured to list more than one presence enabled contact. A user agent is configured to indicate an availability status of the device to a presence server. The user agent is at least partially executed by the processor. Moreover, at least one input is configured to enable a device user to request a communications session with at least one of the plurality of presence enabled contacts. The request is initiated by the user agent when the requested presence enabled contact is available.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/627,368, titled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PRESENCE-BASED TELEPHONY COMMUNICATIONS,” filed Jul. 25, 2003, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Presence and Availability Management (PAM) tools provide presence information to users of PC-based interfaces (e.g., via user-specified “buddy” lists). Such tools are common in Instant Messaging (IM) systems and may be applied to a variety of devices and contexts, including email systems, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's), text-based or graphical-visual displays offered in cellular phones and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) or other Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones.

However, audio-centric devices, such as traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) telephones, do not typically provide presence information directly to device users. While presence may be inferred in some instances (e.g., via certain telephones that visually indicate the availability of one or more telephone lines), a PSTN user typically does not receive presence information until attempting to place a call. The user may then hear ringing, a busy signal, or a message intercepting the call, each alternative providing some evidence as to a called party's availability, but only after the caller has expended valuable time and energy in placing the call.

Similarly, while mobile phones and VoIP phones may include instant messaging information, they do not indicate whether remote parties are available to receive calls. Consequently, callers initiate calls without apriori knowledge of whether intended recipients are available to receive them. In many cases, a caller does not reach a called party directly, and instead receives a voicemail greeting, a busy signal, or no answer, each potentially wasting the caller's time and effort in having placed the call.

Thus, there is a need for improved techniques of presenting and utilizing presence information via telephones and other communication devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following figures depict certain illustrative examples in which like reference numerals refer to like elements. These depicted examples are to be understood as illustrative and not as limiting in any way.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system for presence-based telephony via a PSTN.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an exemplary method of implementing presence-based telephony in a PSTN.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method of propagating a status change notification through the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an example of a presence enabled telephone including a display and user inputs.

FIG. 5 is an example of a presence enabled mobile telephone including a display and user inputs.

FIG. 6 is an example of a presence user agent as part of a presence enabled telecommunication device.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary availability process for indicating a status change for use with the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a rendezvous process 800 for use with the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary mobile presence status process for determining a presence status for a mobile device for use with the presence enabled mobile telephone of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The examples described herein add presence to telephonic devices, including devices such as VoIP phones, and mobile phones. At least one result is that prospective callers are able to ascertain the availability of others, before initiating a call, and use such presence information in their communications activities. Moreover, exemplary presence enabled phones offer enhanced calling services using the presence information.

Presence is directed to the availability aid willingness of a party to communicate. Presence, generally, is often demonstrated via the art as a so-called “buddy list” that includes contacts, or “buddies,” of potential interest to a communication initiator as well as information related to the availability or presence status of at least a subset of the contacts. As discussed herein, presence, presence status, and presence information include information regarding the availability and/or lack of availability of a device or a person or entity related to the device.

For example, presence is composed of a plurality of contacts; each contact (e.g., a buddy) presents some form of presence information such as “available,” “busy,” or “away.” The availability information is determined by the prospective contact and queried by the prospective communication initiator. A contact's presence status as “available” signals that the prospective contact is available to receive a communication. “Busy” indicates that the contact is busy and is not available for a call. “Away” indicates that the contact is away from the device, and therefore, is not able to receive an initiated communication. When a device includes the capability to indicate a presence status (e.g., “away” or “available”) the device is considered presence enabled. That is to say, the device has the capability to indicate a status to others, for example, a presence server (explained below in detail).

A buddy list includes contacts as described above (e.g., people and/or communication devices) that the prospective communication initiator wishes to track for possible use. Thus, a “buddy list” is a list of the initiator's potential contacts (e.g., people and/or communication devices). Such lists are of course not restricted to only friends or acquaintances, but may also include colleagues, business associates, commercial enterprises, etc. The publication of presence status and availability to prospective communication initiators by their prospective contacts makes communication more efficient and effective. By having presence information immediately available, parties can choose when and how to initiate their communications.

Presence information has been used to date in the realm of instant messaging and the like, as opposed to real-time voice communications. Nevertheless, presence information may help ameliorate problems associated with traditional voice communication initiation. Many calls fail to result in a successful call completion to a recipient. These failed calls end up in voicemail, go unanswered, or fail because of a busy signal. One problem is that the communication initiator (i.e., caller) has no information as to how, when, and where the prospective contact (e.g., buddy) can be reached. Moreover, traditional telephonic devices are incapable of presenting presence information. According to exemplary embodiments, if the presence status of the prospective contact is available, the prospective caller may immediately know their chances for completing the call successfully and act accordingly before initiating the call.

Telephonic devices have become substantially more sophisticated over time. For example, many current telephonic devices (e.g., broadband enabled phones, VoIP phones, mobile phones) are processor enabled and have bandwidth capabilities and related utilization capabilities that were previously unavailable. For example, such telephonic devices have the advantage of being able to support multiple communication sessions using a single device as well as to process information via more than one potential communication link. More specifically, for instance, a control channel can co-exist with a real-time communications channel with which the device processor may send information and receive information. Further, more modern telephonic devices include comparatively greater information processing capabilities than previous “telephones.” As such, more sophisticated services can be handled by the premises equipment or mobile equipment with which they are integrated. Therefore, processor enabled telephonic devices may act as a presence entity, including a user agent, and can deliver enhanced services incorporating this presence information.

A method can enable a user of a communications network, such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to participate in Presence Availability Management (PAM) and Instant Messaging (IM) activities. The method can provide the user with presence based status information for members of a buddy list of the user. The method can comprise generating a signal signifying a status of a communications network device of the user, transferring the signal to a web server, translating the signal to presence-based information for the device, propagating the presence-based information to presence user agents associated with participants of the presence-based network, obtaining, at one of the presence user agents associated with the user, presence-based information for selected participants of the presence based network, forwarding the presence-based information for the selected participants to a media server of the communications network and communicating the presence-based information for the selected participants to the user in a communications network compatible format.

To communicate the presence-based information for the selected participants, the method can include initiating a call from the media server to the user, when the presence-based information for one of the selected participants indicates a status change in the selected participants device, and presenting, in the communications network compatible format, the presence-based information for the selected participant to the user when the user accepts the call. In one embodiment, communicating the presence-based information for the selected participants can include presenting, in the communications network compatible format, a listing of the selected participants and the corresponding presence-based information for the selected participants, when the user selects an option to receive the presence-based information. A text to speech translation can be applied to communicate the presence-based information to the user.

The method can include transmitting messages between the user and the selected participants. Messages from the selected participants to the user can be forwarded to the media server and translated to a communications network compatible format. A call can be initiated to the user and the communications network compatible message can be presented to the user, when the user accepts the call. The communications network compatible messages can be queued for later communication when the user does not accept the call.

When the user selects an option to receive queued messages, a listing of the selected participants can be presented to the user, which can include a queued message indication for the selected participants having messages not delivered to the user. The user can choose to receive messages from the listing. In one embodiment, the queued messages can be presented sequentially to the user.

For transmitting messages from the user to the selected participants, the method can include communicating a communications network compatible message from the user to the media server, translating the communications network compatible message to a web-based request referencing the communications network compatible message, creating a presence-based network message from the web-based request and sending the presence-based network message to presence user agents associated with the selected participants. The communications network compatible message can be an audio message and the presence-based network message can identify a web site for playing the audio message.

The user can provide a login sequence to connect the user to the presence-based network and a signal can be generated that can signify an on-line status for the user's device. A signal signifying a busy status for the user's device can be generated when the user initiates an action chosen from a menu including getting status, receiving messages, sending messages, making a call on the communications network and receiving a call on the communications network. A signal signifying an off-line status can be generated when the user performs a logout. A signal signifying one of an away status or an off-line status, as chosen by the user, can be generated when a predetermined amount of time elapses after the user performs a hang-up action.

Generating a signal to the web server can include sending a trigger from a service switching point of the communications network to a service control point of the communications network, the trigger based on a user action with respect to the user's device, and generating a hypertext transfer protocol request and/or a transmission capabilities application part message. The trigger can result in creation of the presence-based status information message. Forwarding the presence-based information to the presence user agents can include forwarding the presence based information to the presence user agent associated with the user, modifying a presence status of the presence user agent associated with the user, communicating the modified presence status to a presence server and propagating the modified status from the presence server to the presence user agents associated with participants of the presence-based network.

A system for enabling a user of a communications network to participate in Presence Availability Management (PAM) and Instant Messaging (IM) activities can include a service control point that can receive status triggers for participant devices connected to the communications network, a web server receiving status signals from the service control point and translating the status signals to presence-based information for respective participant devices connected to the communications network and presence user agents associated with participant in the presence-based network. Each presence user agent can receive the presence-based information for a respective participant device and can modify its presence status to correspond with the received presence-based information. The system can also include a presence server that can receive notifications of modified presence statuses for the respective participant devices and can propagate the notifications to presence user agents of buddy list participants for the respective participant devices so as to communicate the notifications to the buddy lists participants. The system can further include a media server to receive the notifications for buddy list participants having participant devices connected to the communications network and to communicate the notifications through the participant devices connected to the communications network.

The media server can include a speech recognition module, a text to speech module that can facilitate communication of instant messages between the buddy list participants and a media server user agent that can facilitate communications between the presence server and the media server. The system can include a persisted message database for storing instant messages when communication of the instant messages is not completed.

The system can include a notification engine that can receive notifications and alerts from sources outside the presence-based network and can propagate the notifications and alerts through the presence-based network via communication with the web server. An alerting service user agent can facilitate communication between the notification engine and the presence user agents. The system can include one or more databases containing participant information and can include an application server to facilitate communication between the web server and the databases. The application server can include a trigger processor to facilitate communication between the service control point and the web server when the status signal is a transmission control protocol, internet protocol transmission capabilities application part message.

In one embodiment, a computer program, disposed on a computer readable medium, can enable a user of a communications network to participate in a presence-based network. The computer program can include instructions for causing a processor to generate a signal signifying a status of a communications network device of the user, transfer the signal to a web server, translate the signal to presence-based information for the device, forward the presence-based information to presence user agents associated with participants of the presence based network, obtain, at one of the presence user agents associated with the user, presence based information for selected participants of the presence-based network, forward the presence based information for the selected participants to a media server of the communications network, and communicate the presence-based information for the selected participants to the user in a communications network compatible format.

The computer program can include instructions for causing a processor to present, in the communications network compatible format, a listing of the selected participants and the corresponding presence-based information for the selected participants when the user selects an option to receive the presence-based information. The instructions for causing a processor to communicate the presence-based information for the selected participants can include instructions for causing a processor to initiate a call from the media server to the user and await answering the call by the user to present the listing.

The computer program can include instructions for causing a processor to transmit messages from one of the selected participants to the user by forwarding the message to the media server, translating the message to a communications network compatible message, initiating a call to the user, presenting the communications network compatible message to the user when the user accepts the call, and queuing the communications network compatible message when the user does not accept the call. The instruction for causing a processor to communicate the presence-based information for the selected participants can include instructions for causing a processor to present a listing of the selected participants to the user when the user selects an option to receive queued messages, the listing including a queued message indication for the selected participants having messages not delivered to the users and present selected queued messages to the user. The computer program can present the queued messages sequentially to the user when the user selects an option to receive queued messages.

The computer program can communicate a communications network compatible message from the user to the media server, translate the communications network compatible message to a web-based request referencing the communications network compatible message, create a presence-based network message from the web-based request, and send the presence based network message to presence user agents associated with the selected participants. The computer program can include instructions for causing a processor to identify a web site for playing the communications network compatible message when the communications network compatible message is an audio message, and instructions to apply a text-to-speech translation to the presence-based information.

The computer program can include instructions for causing a processor to present to the user a menu of actions including getting status, receiving messages, sending messages, making a call on the communications network and receiving a call on the communications network, generate a signal signifying a busy status for the user's device when the user initiates at least one action chosen from the menu, generate a signal signifying an off-line status for the user's device when the user performs a logout from the computer program, and generate, when a predetermined amount of time elapses after the user performs a hang-up, a signal signifying a status for the user's device chosen by the user from a listing including an away status and an offline status.

The instructions to generate a signal can include instructions for causing a processor to send a trigger from a service switching point of the communications network to a service control point of the communications network, the trigger based on a user action with respect to the user's device, and generate a hypertext transfer protocol request and/or a transmission capabilities application part message. The instructions for controlling a computer to propagate the presence-based information to the presence user agents can include instructions for controlling a computer to propagate the presence-based information to the presence user agent associated with the user, modify a presence status of the presence user agent associated with the user, communicate the modified presence status to a presence server, and propagate the modified status from the presence server to the presence user agents associated with participants of the presence-based network.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a schematic representation of a system 10 that can provide for presence-based telephony in a PSTN 12. The system 10 can provide a PST user 14 with the functionality of PAM and IM systems, including services for sending and receiving instant voice or text messages, making and receiving telephone calls and receiving voice alerts and notifications. These services can be executed in the context of a user's presence status and the presence status presented by each member of the user's buddy list. A user's presence status changes in response to notifications delivered to the system via signals in PST 12, as illustrated by dashed lines 16, including Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) triggers.

The triggers 16 can modify presence status in real-time, according to the status of the telephone lines 18 between phones 20, or other voice devices, and Service Switching Points (SSP'S) 22 of PSTN 12, through which a user 14 may interface with PSTN 12. PSTN 12 can be interfaced with one or more presence User Agents (UA's) 24, as will be described further. The presence UA's 24 can receive and process PSTN trigger notifications, instant messages and other alerts and notifications using known protocols, including Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and IM or SIP, IM and Presence Leveraging Extension (SIMPLE), implemented on presence server. A presence UA 24 can modify and/or update its presence status as a result of the alerts, notifications and messages it receives.

It is noted, however, that presence server 26 and system 10 do not depend on SIMPLE or other specific VoIP or IM protocols. Such protocols are presented for exemplary purposes in describing the system 10 and components thereof. Presence server 26 can be a network-based set of modules enabling real-time communication sessions between users, as may be known in the art. These communication sessions can support a variety of communication services, including instant messaging, voice communications, video communications and/or application sharing. In addition, it can be understood that PSTN 12 provides an exemplary embodiment for the methods and systems described herein and that other communications networks, such as wireless networks, and VoIP networks can be adapted to fully participate in the instant voice and text messaging, alerts and notifications, and status update services described herein and that other devices, such as mobile phones, PDA's and the like for use with such systems can be so adapted.

Referring back to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, media server 28 can manage the interaction between system 10 and user 14 and can provide the capability to play prompts and recognize responses, e.g., Dual Tone MultiFrequency (DTMF) tones and/or spoken commands. Media server 28 may include known components, e.g., a Voice extensible Markup Language (VXML) interpreter 28 a, Text To Speech (ITS) module 28 b and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) module 28 c, which can provide the desired interaction management, prompting and recognition capabilities. Media server 28 can interact with web server 30 and application server 32 to pass configuration, registration and other types of requests, e.g., sending instant messages and/or initiating telephone calls. Media server 28 can also record audio messages that can be sent as instant voice messages.

Web server 30 can serve as an intermediary for other components of system 10. For example, it can pass requests between the media server 28 and application server 32, notification engine 34 and/or presence UA's 24. As may be known in the art, web server 30 can receive HTTP-based notifications or requests, either directly or indirectly, from a Service Control Point (SCP) 36 of PSTN 12, as indicated, for example, by dashed arrow 38 in FIG. 1. The notifications can result from AIN triggers 16 delivered to SCP 36 by SSP 22 of PSTN 12. Web server 30 can translate incoming HTTP requests 38 from different entities, such as Voice XML script from media server 28 and/or notification engine 34 software, to SIP and IM (or SIMPLE) messages, passing them to the web presence UA component 30 a of web server 30. Web presence UA 30 a can communicate with and can control presence UA's 24 and alerting service UA 40.

Application server 32 can process requests from the web server 30 and can also send web server 30 new requests. Application server 32 can communicate with media server 28 and/or presence server 26. In addition, application server 32 can communicate with user database 42 for provisioning and configuration purposes and can include PSTN trigger notification processor 32 a. As may be known in the art, PSTN trigger notification processor 32 a can receive notifications from the SCP 36 for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCPIIP) Transmission Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) messages, as indicated by dashed arrow 44, Notification engine 34 can receive notifications and alerts from different sources and propagate the notifications and alerts through the system via communication with web server 30. Notification engine 34 can be a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)-based module, as may be known in the art, which can deliver notifications and alerts to a user presence device, i.e., the device used by the user for which user presence information can be obtained.

System 10 can persist, e.g., store, data in a data store, which may include such storage devices as a relational database, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory and/or other file system. The persisted or stored data can include user or subscriber provisioning and configuration data, e.g., user preferences and/or user profiles in user database 42; user registration data, e.g., user SIP or SIMPLE registration and contact information in registration database 46; and voice messages, e.g., persisted instant voice messages in data store 48.

The UA's, e.g., the presence UA's 24, the alerting service UA 40 and the web presence UA 30 a, can act as proxies for a user and can represent intermediate points for communications. For the exemplary system of FIG. 1, SIP UA 28 d can serve as an intermediary between presence server 26 and media server 28. The UA's can include applications that can initiate a request, such as a SIP request, on behalf of the user, that can contact the user when a request, such as a SIP request, is received and that can return a response on behalf of the user. The response can include accepting, rejecting, and/or redirecting the request. Presence UA 24 can represent user 14 and can act on behalf of user 14 when user 14 has logged into system 10, e.g., via telephone 20. It can be understood that the representation of user 14 by presence UA 24 need not be limited to telephone 20, but may include devices or applications through which a user may communicate with system 10, e.g., an internet browser.

Presence UA 24 can receive and interpret IM messages in XML format from web presence UA 30 a. The XML data can specify the sender and recipient information. The presence UA 24 for the sender can create a new IM message in text format and can send it to a recipient. The text can be taken from the content element of the received XML-based IM message. If the recipient is, for example, a PC-based user, then the recipient can receive an IM message containing the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for playing the audio content recorded by the sender, When UA 24 for user 14 (or for other users having a voice device) receives an IM message containing the URL to an audio file recorded by the sender, UA 24 can invoke media platform 28 to make an outbound phone call to user 14. During the call, the URL to the audio file recorded by the sender can be resolved by media platform 28 and an instant voice message can be played to the user 14 (or other recipient having a voice device). When an IM message is received in text format, UA 24 can invoke media platform 28 to make an outbound phone call during which the message content is read to the recipient by TTS 28 b.

Web presence UA 30 a can act as a gateway between Internet and Intranet requests, e.g. HTTP or Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) requests, and the system 10 infrastructure, e.g. the SIP and IM (or SIMPLE) infrastructure. The alerting service UA 40 can act as an intermediary between the notification engine 34 and the user 14. The alerting service UA 40 can deliver a diverse set of public and/or private alerts and notifications regardless of type of device used. The manner of operation of alerting service UA 40 on alerts and notifications can be similar to the operation of UA 24 on IM messages, as described previously.

In addition to the previously described components, system 10 may include components known in the art to comprise telephony networks with AIN capabilities, such as PSTN 12. Such components can include telephone switches, e.g., SSP 22, Line Information Database (LIDB) 50, control points and transfer points, e.g., SCP 36 and Signaling Transfer Point (STP) 52. While processing a call, SSP 22 may obtain AIN information from LIDS 50 via STP 52. SSP 22 may generate a trigger 16 that can initiate a TCAP query to SCP 36. The service logic of SCP 36 can process the query and may send an HTTP request and/or another TCAP query into the IP domain via IP/PSTN Gateways 54. The requests and/or queries can be received by web server 30 and/or the PSTN trigger notification processor 32 a.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, there is shown a flow chart of a method 100 that illustrates the operation of system 10. The operation is described from the perspective of PSTN user 14. However, it can be understood by those of skill in the art that the descriptions herein can apply to other users of system 10, including cellular phone users, VoIP users, PDA users and/or the communications network device users.

A user can first connect (102) to media server 28. For user 14, connection to media server 28 is made, via phone 20, SSP 22, STP 52 and gateway 54, by dialing the access telephone number for system 10. Existing users may then be prompted to login at 104. If user 14 is a first time user, as determined at 106, or if user 14 wishes to change previous configurations after logging in, as determined at 108, media server 28 can prompt user 14 to input user data (1 lo), from which system 10 can create and save a user profile and a user account (112). The user data may include an assigned or selected sign-in name, an email address, a SIP Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) address, a password, a pin, user selected preferences, user selected system settings and/or other data that system 10 can save and/or store to identify user 14. It can be noted that the sign-in name, password, pin and/or other user data can be used for user login at 104.

The input data may also include a nickname that can identify the user 14 to other system users, as may be known for creating buddy lists. User 14 can also provide a listing of other users that can serve as the buddy list of user 14. The system 10 can save the user's identity, profile, service settings and other user input data in the data store, e.g., in user database 42. Once existing user 14 has logged in at 104, or new user 14 has input the appropriate data at 110, the login and/or user data can be validated at 114 such that the user 14 can gain access to the system 10. The user data can be validated against the data in the user database 42 and/or the registration database 46.

Different forms of presence availability or presence status are known in the art, including 08-line, on-line, busy (or on-the-phone) and away. For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the following description will be based on the foregoing. However, it can be understood that the method and system herein described may not be limited to this simple set of presence statuses. Once validated, user 14 presence status may be determined and updated automatically, as indicated at 116, using signaling by PSTN 12. This action (1 16) can result in presence server 26 updating or propagating the presence status of the user 14 on the buddy lists of other users that include user 14 on their lists. An existing user 14 may adjust user presence status manually. When user 14 chooses to change configuration data at 110, the data can include setting the presence status for the user. However, unless specifically changed during user input at 110, the updated presence status for the user 14 can be the presence status as determined automatically at 116.

When not logged-in, user 14 presence status can be set to off-line. After login and validation, user 14 presence status can typically be set to on-line. System 10 can monitor activity of user 14 through presence UA 24 for user 14 and can propagate presence status changes for user 14 to other users who may have user 14 on their buddy lists. A predetermined period of inactivity can result in changing the on-line presence status to away. If user 14 picks up phone 20, the away presence status can return to on-line, e.g., by way of an AIN off-hook immediate trigger 16, as may be known in the art.

Generally, when user 14 initiates a telephone call, SSP 22 can generate an AIN 0_Connect trigger 16, or other similar trigger, to signify a telephone line status change. The status change notification can be propagated through the system 10, as shown in FIG. 1, with the presence status of user 14 changed to busy. Similarly, when the telephone call ends, an AIN 0-Disconnect trigger 16, or other similar trigger, can be generated and propagated, resulting in a presence status change of user 14 from busy to on-line. It can be seen that AIN trigger 16 need not be limited to the triggers described above, but can include other triggers that can signify status changes. FIG. 3 shows an illustrative flow chart for a method of propagating the status change notification through system 10.

Referring now to FIG. 3, method 200 can be initiated when an action by user 14 (202) results in the generation of an AIN trigger 16, as at 204 and as described above. Actions 202 can include picking up and/or replacing the receiver of phone, or device, 20, initiating a phone call, ending a phone call, receiving a phone call, and/or performing an action associated with the operation of system 10, as may be described for method 100, herein. AIN trigger 16 is sent to SCP 36 (206), which can generate an HTTP request 38 to web server 30 (208). Web server 30 can translate, or map, the HTTP request (210) to the appropriate presence status and pass the translated request to the presence UA 24 for the user 14 via the web presence UA 30 a of web server 30 (212). UA 24 can modify its presence status (214) accordingly. Depending on the feature set of SCP 36, the SCP 36 may generate a TCPIIP TCAP message 44 to application server UA 32 a, which can send the appropriate request to web server 30 (not shown).

Presence UA 24 for user 14 can communicate the status change to presence server 26 (216), which can propagate (218) the presence status change of user 14 to other presence UA's for users who have user 14 on their buddy list. For users having traditional IM services, as determined by presence server 26 at 220, presence server 26 can update (222) the presence status for user 14 at the user's device, e.g., PC 58, as is known in the art. For other users of system 10, such as user 14 a, presence server 26 can provide (224) the updated presence status for user 14 to media server 28 for presentation (226) to user 14 a. In one embodiment, as described further in relation to FIGS. 2A and 2B, media server 28 can deliver an instant voice message alert about the status change to user 14 a.

For the illustrative embodiment of FIGS. 2A and 2B, user 14 presence status of busy can indicate telephone activity. With regards to descriptions of actions related to buddy lists, the presence status for a member of the buddy list can be taken as on-line, unless stated otherwise. It can be understood that telephone activity may be represented by other presence status indications. For example, user 14 presence status may be set to busy during telephone conversations, but user 14 presence status can remain on-line during telephone activity for engaging with instant voice message delivery or during the provisioning and configuration activity with media server 28. While AIN triggers 16 from these activities can result in presence status update requests (indicated by dashed line 56 in FIG. I), these update requests can be ignored by presence UA 24 when the activity is related to system 10 and not to a phone conversation. Thus, the user 14 presence status can remain unchanged, i.e., can remain on-line during such activity.

When presence status is maintained as on-line during system 10 related activities, delivery of incoming telephone calls and/or instant messages during the activity may be necessary as the calling or messaging party has been given an indication that the called party (the user 14) is available (on-line). Delivery of multiple instant voice messages within one telephone call can be assured by the use of a queuing mechanism for instant voice message delivery in presence UA 24 and by dynamic notification of the arrival of new instant messages while in the call, for example, through notification engine 34. It can be understood by those of skill in the art that a call waiting function can be operable such that the user 14 can receive notification of incoming calls.

Other presence status indications and/or changes can also be contemplated. For example, a call screening service, as may be known in the art as Selective Inbound Call Filtering, can selectively apply a user 14 presence status of off-line to the buddy lists of others, even though this user may actually be on-line. In another example, a call can be automatically scheduled depending on presence status. A user can request that system 10 set up a telephone call to a designated of-line user when the designated user's presence status changes to an on-line indication. The connection can be expanded to implement ad-hoc conferences when multiple designated users come on-line.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 2A and 2B, once the user 14 is admitted to system 10, a selectable menu of actions can be presented to the user at 118. The menu can include selections to log out (off-line), hang up and remain on-line, get presence status of buddy list members, send/receive messages and make telephone calls. If the user 14 chooses to logout (120), presence status for user 14 will be updated to off-line (122), The user 14 can signal a logout action using DTMF or speech commands. Media server 28 can send a LOGOUT message to the web presence UA 30 a via web server 30. Web presence UA 30 a can send an IM message about the logout action to presence UA 24 of user 14. Presence UA 24 can then deregister with presence server 26 and exit. The presence server 26 can propagate the off-line presence status of the user to other users. The user 14 can subsequently re-connect to the system 10 by returning to 102.

If the user 14 wishes to hang up yet remain connected to system 10, the user may choose to hang up (124). The presence status for user 14 can remain on-line for a predetermined time. After this time, as determined at 126, the presence status can be updated to away (128). In one embodiment, the user 14 can select an additional predetermined amount of time after which the presence status can be updated to off-line, as indicated at 126 a and 128 a. If the respective predetermined times do not elapse, the presence status can remain on-line or away, respectively, until some action by user 14 or some operation of system 10, such as an incoming call or message, can update the presence status.

It can be understood that the user 14 need not specifically choose the item 124 from the menu 118. For example, the act of hanging up the phone 20 when connected to the system 10 can trigger the hang up operation 124. For example, a user 14 connected to system 10 may hang up the phone 20 when a call is completed, or when validation (1 14) and updating of presence (1 16) are completed. It can also be understood that the predetermined times can be set such that the user 14 presence status can remain on-line or away for extended periods of time, e.g., the predetermined time before the status is updated to away or to of-line can be set to a long period of time such that, for practical purposes, the predetermined time will not elapse. The predetermined time can be set by user 14 during configuration (1 lo), with a default value specified by the system 10, or the predetermined time can be set by system 10.

In one embodiment, after choosing menu item 124, the user 14 can be returned to 116 upon subsequently picking up the phone, as may be indicated at 116 a. In this embodiment of method 100, the user can avoid a new login sequence. However, when increased security is desired, as can be determined at 116 b, the user 14 can be returned to 104 to log back into system 10. Returning to the login sequence (104) can help prevent unauthorized use of phone 20.

If user 14 chooses to get the status (130) for buddy list members, system 10, through media server 28, can present user 14 with a listing of members and the status of each member, as indicated at 132. Presence server 26 can establish communications between buddies and can propagate to update their status. The protocol used by presence server 26 (e.g., the SIMPLE protocol) can be such that the UA's, including presence UA's 24, alerting service UA 40, and web presence UA 30 a, can continuously propagate their presence status to the members of their buddy lists. Such notification requests can be communicated from the “propagator”, via presence server 26, to members of the buddy lists of the “propagator”. Thus, the UA's for a user can maintain the list and status of the user's buddies. Incoming notification requests from these buddies will update their status on the list.

The form and presentation of the listing can depend on the user equipment and/or the format chosen by the user 14. When the user equipment 20 supports text messaging, the user 14 may choose, at 134, to have a text listing, e.g., a member directory, displayed. The user may scroll through the listing, or search for a particular member, in the manner of known telephone directories. The user may choose, also at 134, to receive a vocal listing of buddy list member status. Using TTS 28 b, ASR 28 c and/or DTMF, media server 28 can provide the functionality of a text based phone directory to a user 14 with limited or with no text capabilities.

It can be understood that the user 14 may set the form of presentation of the buddy list as part of the configuration (110) of system 10. Alternatively, system 10 can determine the form of presentation based on the equipment and service profile of the user 14, as may be available from PSTN 12 and/or user database 42 Thus, at 134, the method 100 may default to the predetermined setting and the user 14 may be given the option of changing to an alternate form of presentation, if supported by the user 14 equipment. The rendering of the buddy list can inform the user 14 about the presence status of members of the list and can allow for the selection of a buddy with whom the user wishes to communicate.

Other users can include user 14 in their buddy list and can send instant messages (voice or text) to user 14. For the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B, wherein the user 14 equipment is depicted as phone 20, these messages can arrive at user 14 as a telephone call. If supported by user 14 equipment, instant messages can have a distinctive ring tone that the user 14 can recognize as an incoming instant message. User 14 may be unable or unwilling to accept the message, e.g., user 14 may be on the phone. System 10 can persist instant messages in data store 48 until delivery occurs. Alternatively, or in addition, if the user 14 is unable to accept an incoming message, the message can be delivered to voice mail, or a call waiting notification can be given to the user 14. In one embodiment, persisted instant messages can be delivered as a phone call to user 14, once user 14 completes the current call.

The user 14 may choose to receive such undelivered instant messages at 136. If there are no messages, as determined at 136 a, when user 14 chooses 136 from menu 118, method 100 can provide a textual and/or vocal no message indication (136 b) to user 14 at 132, in lieu of the buddy list and the user 14 can be returned to menu 118, as indicated at “B”. When there are messages, the buddy list can be presented to user 14 in the manner as described previously with relation to getting status 130. The status listing presented at 132 can include message waiting indications associated with the buddy list members. In one embodiment, when user 14 chooses to receive messages at 136, the buddy listing presented can be restricted to those members that have a message waiting indication. Alternatively, the method 100 can present the instant messages to the user in the manner of known voice mail systems, e.g., the system 100 can present the messages to user 14 sequentially.

Using speech recognition and/or DTMF, the user 14 can then select a member with a message waiting indication from the presented listing, at 138, and user 14 can then receive the associated message at 140. The listing presented to user 14 can include a return to menu item that user 14 can choose to return to menu 118, as may be indicated at 142. It can be understood that the method 100 can track the menu choices made, such that intermediate decision or branch points can be transparent to the user 14. For example, other menu 118 choices to be described further herein can include sending a message to (148) and placing a call to (154) the selection at 138. Method 100 can include branch points (e.g., 150 and 158) for these menu choices. Thus, method 100 can navigate from the selection of a member of the buddy list at 138, through these branch points to receiving the message from the member at 140.

For audio messages, the message can be simply played to user 14. For text messages, the message text can be displayed to the user 14 when the equipment of user 14 is capable of such display, or the text can be converted to audio using Text To Speech (TTS) technology. After receiving an instant voice message, user 14 can choose, at 144, to reply to the message, as will be described further below. If the user 14 does not reply, the listing can again be presented to the user 14, such that the user can choose to obtain any additional messages that may be waiting. It can be noted that the listing can be presented without the user choosing text or vocal listings.

In addition, the user 14 can choose (146) to return to the main menu 118 rather than return to the listing. It can be understood that the message waiting indication of the listing can be updated to reflect that the message was delivered. If the listing is restricted to members having a message waiting indication, the entry can be removed from the listing. It can be understood that method 100 can default to menu 118 at branch point 146 when there are no messages remaining.

If the user chooses to send an instant message, either by choosing at 144 to reply via a message, or as selected at 148, the user 14 can record a voice message that can be sent to the originator of the instant voice message in the case of a reply, or to a buddy list member selected from the listing. Alternatively, user 14 can type a text message if the user 14 equipment can support such a capability. The instant message (voice or text) can be persisted by the system 10 until delivery occurs, as previously described. System 10 can also provide for longer retention or logging of messages, as provided in known instant messaging and/or call answering systems.

When user 14 chooses to send a message as selected at 148, the user 14 can be presented a buddy list and can select a member, as shown and described for 134, 132 and 138. As noted previously, intermediate decision or branch points can be transparent to the user 14. In particular, method 100 can branch at 150 to receiving (140) or sending (152) a message depending on whether menu item 136 or 148 was chosen. Once the message is sent, the user 14 can return to the listing to record additional messages for selected members, or can return to 118, via 146, to select another menu item. As described previously with respect to UA's 24 sending and receiving IM messages, the presence UA's 24 can be aware of the sending and receiving of instant messages. Thus, user 14 presence status can typically be busy during these operations. For example, when user 14 chooses menu item 136 or 148, an AIN trigger can signify the change in status, as previously described.

The instant messages that the user 14 can send and/or receive can include an invitation to a telephone call. The invitation can be a prerecorded instant voice message that carries caller information, e.g., instant voice message originator calling information. When user 14 receives an invitation, user 14 can choose, at 144, to accept the invitation and system 10 can create a telephone call between the sender and user 14, as described further below. If user 14 does not wish to create a call, user 14 can reply by sending a message (152), or may choose not to reply to the invitation and return to the listing 132, or menu 118, as chosen at 146.

When the user 14 chooses to make a telephone call while connected to system 10, as at 154, the user 14 can be presented a buddy list and can select a member, as shown and described for 134, 132 and 138. Additionally, or alternatively, the presented list can include access to a phone directory and/or an option that user 14 can select at 138 to input a phone number to be called (156). As known in the art, the directory can be accessible by voice command, such that the user can provide the voice command associated with a directory listing and the listing will be presented to the user. Where the listing is associated with a member of the buddy list, the presence status can be presented in addition to information standard for known directory listings.

When menu item 154 was chosen, system 10 can branch at 158 to initiate a call to the other party (160). Otherwise, system 10 branches at 158 to 150, as previously described with relation to menu items 136 and 148. To initiate a call, system 10 can bridge between the user 14 connection to system 10 and the system 10 connection to the called party to enable the user 14 to connect to the other party, as indicated at 162. When the phone call is in response to an invitation to call, as described above, or when user 14 wishes to respond to an IM message with a phone call, method 100 can transfer, as indicated by branch 144, from receiving a message at 140 to bridging the call between user 14 and the message originator at 162.

The following example is provided using the SIMPLE protocol, though it can be understood that other protocols can be used for the systems and methods described herein. In addition, the example provided can use the call control for a SIMPLE (SIP Proxy) presence server 26. User 14, while connected to system 10, can provide an indication to media server 28, via DTMF or speech, to initiate a call Media server 28 can send an HTTP request to web server 30, which can translate the request content to an XML-based SIMPLE message and can pass the message to web presence UA 30 a of web server 30. Presence UA 24 for user 14 can receive a SIMPLE message about the action via web presence UA 30 a.

Presence UA 24 can notify presence (SIMPLE) server 26 to transfer the call to the called party. If transfer succeeds, the result can be a real-time telephone conversation between the user 14 and the called party. The presence status of user 14 can be updated to busy during the call, as at 164. If the called party is a user of a system providing presence information, the presence status of the called party can also be updated to busy to indicate a telephone call has started, e.g., an 0-Connect AIN trigger 16 can be generated. Once the call is completed, the user 14 can return to the listing, at 132, to make another call, or can return to 118, via 146, to select another menu item.

In addition to the operations described above, user 14 can receive a telephone call or, when the user 14 is logged in to system 10, can receive calls in the form of messages, alerts and notifications from system 10. Alerting service UA 40 can deliver a diverse set of alerts and notifications to a logged-in user 14. These alerts and notifications can come from public sources, including, but not limited to, web portals and/or voice portals. Additionally, or alternatively, the alerts and notifications can come from private, or user 14 sources, including, but not limited to, electronic calendars, electronic mail inboxes and/or voicemail inboxes.

An incoming communication can be handled by system 10 in the manner of receiving messages (136). As is known in the art, system 10 can provide caller identification information to user 14, such that user 14 can choose whether or not to accept the incoming call. The caller identification information can be presented to user 14 in the manner of presenting the listing at 132. If a call arrives and is accepted by user 14, then user presence can be updated to busy, in a manner similar to that described above for initiating a phone call at 160, 162 and 164. As an example, an AIN 0_Connect trigger 16 can be generated and propagated through system 10 to modify presence status on presence UA 24 of user 14.

If the accepted call is an IM message, the user can receive the message, as at 140. After accepting and completing a call, the user can be returned to the menu, as at 146. If user 14 is busy when the call arrives, a call waiting notification, as known in the art, can be given to user 14. If user 14 chooses not to answer the call, then the call may be delivered to voice mail, or in the case of an incoming message, can be queued, as previously described. Incoming messages can also be queued when the user 14 is not logged in to system 10. Alerts and notifications can be treated as incoming instant voice messages. From a user's perspective, the alerts and notifications can be specialized, time or event-driven, and/or possibly urgent messages that the user 14 has indicated a desire to receive.

The systems and methods described herein may not be limited to a particular hardware or software configuration; they may find applicability in many communication environments. For example, the systems and methods described herein in relation to PSTN 12 can provide full participation in the instant voice and text messaging, alerts and notifications, and presence services in a wireless environment and can be an adjunct to Short Message Service (SMS) capabilities provided by cellular phone systems. SMS can be used to send messages of up to 160 characters (224 characters if using a 5-bit mode) to mobile phones, similar to the manner text messages are sent in paging systems. In such an environment, a mobile switching center can provide the functionality of the service switching point and other components described in relation to PSTN 12 can have similar counterparts in a wireless environment.

Thus, it can be understood by those of skill in the art that PSTN 12 provides an exemplary embodiment for the methods and systems described herein and that other communications networks, such as wireless networks, and VoIP networks can be adapted to fully participate in the instant voice and text messaging, alerts and notifications, and status update services described herein and that other devices, such as mobile phones, PDA's and the like for use with such systems can be so adapted.

Examples of instant messaging protocols, such as the SIMPLE protocol discussed above, are targeted to specific instant messaging functions. However, messaging protocols and communication interfaces need not be limited to personal computer-based software and functions (e.g., instant messaging). For example, a presence user agent may reside on a processor enabled telephonic device, such as a VoIP phone or a mobile phone, which also have greater bandwidth availability and utilization capabilities than more traditional telephones. Thus, presence UA's 24 may reside in whole or in part on the presence enabled telephonic devices rather than being located generally on supporting network equipment.

Using messaging protocols (e.g., SIP/SIMPLE), the user agent (UA) may function to register the processor enabled telephonic device with a presence server. The UA may then publish the subsequent activities and status (e.g. on-hook, off-hook, available, away, etc.) of a party associated with the telephonic device (e.g., a prospective contact for a caller) to the presence server. The presence server may then notify other presence UAs 24, e.g. presence UAs 24 resident on PC 58, who have subscribed to receive updates of the state of that UA associated with a particular telephonic device or party using that device at that time. In an example, the UA's communication with presence server 26 may be performed using a SIP SIMPLE control channel.

FIG. 4 illustrates a presence enabled telephone 400 including a display 410, a handset 412, and a numeric keypad 414. Presence enabled telephone 400 is, for example, a VoIP phone or SIP phone that is network connected (eg., having sufficient bandwidth to permit more than one type of communication link to be utilized at the same time as discussed below) and includes processing capabilities (i.e., presence enabled telephone 400 is processor enabled using processor 630 shown in FIG. 6). Handset 412 includes an audio input (e.g., a microphone) and an audio output (e.g., a speaker) for facilitating telephonic communication. The audio input or output is not limited to the example of handset 412 and may also be embodied in alternative ways within respect to presence enabled telephone 400 (e.g. a speakerphone, a headset, wireless earset, etc.). Moreover, the processing capabilities of presence enabled telephone 400 may include signal processing of the audio input and output for transmission along a voice communication channel.

Presence enabled telephone 400 is configured for use with the system of FIG. 1, where presence enabled telephone 400 connects directly to SIP enabled and/or IP media delivery enabled (e.g. Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP)) elements of FIG. 1, e.g. presence server 26 and media server/platform 28. Via an IP network (similar to the connection of PC 58), presence enabled telephone 400 connects to directly to VoIP networks, and connects to PSTN 12 via IP/PSTN Gateways 54. Display 410 provides information to the user regarding a list of buddies. As shown in FIG. 4, display 410 shows four (4) buddies as “Buddy 1” 430, “Buddy 2” 432, “Buddy 3” 434, and “Buddy 4” 436. However, conveniently located adjacent to display 410 are scroll-up button 428 and scroll-down button 429 that allow the user to scroll through a list of buddies that exceed the capabilities of display 410. In an example, where presence enabled telephone 400 includes a list of buddies that is greater than four (4), i.e. the maximum displayable number of buddies, the user may use scroll buttons 428, 429 to navigate the list of buddies to bring the desired buddy to show on display 410.

In general, display 410 may be configured as a text display and/or a graphical display. Next to each displayed buddy 430, 432, 434, 436, status symbols 440, 442, 444, 446 are displayed. Status symbols 440, 442, 444, 446 may be text, iconic (e.g., graphical), or color-based, etc., to indicate the status of a buddy. As shown, status symbol 440 shows “Buddy 1” 430 as “available” indicating that “Buddy 1” 430 is willing and able to receive a call. Status symbol 442 shows “Buddy 2” 432 as “busy” indicating that “Buddy 2” 432 is likely near a telephonic device associated with that prospective contact, but that if the prospective caller were to attempt to call “Buddy 2” 432, the call would not be connected. Status symbol 446 shows “Buddy 4” 436 as “away” indicating that “Buddy 4” 436 is not near a telephonic device and that a placed call would not be connected. Thus, status symbols 440, 442, 444, 446 generally indicate the buddies' communication status or their availability to receive a call. Buddies 430, 432, 434, 436 are generally considered contacts that include presence information. Display 410 may also list non-presence enabled contacts along with the “buddies” an integrated contact list. Thus, presence enabled telephone 400 may function to display a typical telephone contact list as well as presence enabled “buddies.”

In addition to the statuses indicating “available,” “busy,” and “away,” the status indication may include on-line or off-line (in the case of a VoIP phone), watching a video (e.g., a movie), using an application (e.g., e-mail), etc. In some situations, such as when there has been a localized communication breakdown, information provided may even be limited to “status unknown”. Thus, depending upon any other integrated services with which the presence enabled telephone 400 may also communicate (e.g., a computer, a cable-box, a security system), the status indication may also reflect an enhanced level of indication other than “available,” “busy,” and “away.” That is to say, the statuses published by presence enabled telephone 400 are extensible. Nevertheless, when configured to receive signals from other devices or information sources, presence enabled telephone 400 notifies the presence server of the user or party associated with that device of the potential availability or status.

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 4, presence enabled telephone 400 includes a user operable presence indication input 450 that allows the user to manually signal their presence status. For example, a user may push presence indication input 450 to toggle their own presence status of “available” and “away” and presence enabled telephone 400 would then notify the presence server of the new presence status. For example, when a user is leaving the range of the presence enabled telephone 400, e.g. leaving the premises where presence enabled telephone 400 is located, the user may push presence indication input 450 such that the user's presence status is now “away.” In this way, the user indicates to others that a call will not be answered. In another example, where a user comes within range of presence enabled telephone 400, the user may press presence indication input 450 to set the presence status to “available” and indicate to others that they are available for a call. Other means of determining whether a user is within proximity of the phone are also possible. In an example, presence enabled telephone 400 may include a wireless personal area network interface (e.g., Bluetooth, ZigBee, IEEE 802.15) and the user may carry a device capable to signal presence enabled telephone 400 that the user is nearby and presence enabled telephone 400 indicates “available.” When the user moves out of range of the wireless personal area network interface, presence enabled telephone 400 indicates “away.”

Display 410 also includes communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 that are adjacent to each displayed buddy 430, 432, 434, 436. Communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 are used to initiate a call to their respective buddy shown in display 410. Communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 will initiate a call when the respective buddy is listed as “available.” Thus, communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 are not merely used to initiate a call, but rather are intelligent in that the respective buddy's presence status is used to determine whether or not to initiate a call.

Moreover, communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 may be statebased in that when a user pushes a communication session initiation button 420, 422, 424, 426 to indicate a desire to call the respective buddy, presence enabled telephone 400 will retain the desire to initiate a call if the buddy's presence status is “busy” or “away” and initiate the call when the buddy's presence status indicates “4available.” In this way, presence enabled telephone 400 functions to create a “rendezvous” function that will connect the parties when both are available. In other words, presence enabled telephone 400 will wait until the “called party” (e.g., the buddy that the user desired to communicate with) and presence enabled telephone 400 itself (the “calling party) are both “available.” If the user were to leave the room, the user may push presence indication input 450 to toggle the presence status of presence enabled telephone 400 to “away.” Such an indication of presence status avoids a call being placed to the desired “called party” (assuming the called party is “available”) until the user again pushes presence indication input 450 to toggle the presence status of presence enabled telephone 400 to “available.” In sum, a call is not initiated by presence enabled telephone 400 until the called party and the calling party both indicate their presence status as “available.”

Moreover, the user may scroll through the list of buddies shown in display 410 and push the associated communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 to indicate a desire to communicate. When more than one buddy (e.g., buddies 430, 432, 434, 436) is indicated for “rendezvous,” presence enabled telephone 400 will initiate a call with the first available buddy in the order communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 with respect to each buddy. In this way, the user may be able to setup a number of calls and have each of them initiated when the respective buddy becomes available. Moreover, if the user desires to “rendezvous” calls for more than one buddy without interruption, the user may toggle presence indication input 450 to “away,” signal “rendezvous” calls using communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 (and scrolling through a list of buddies of display 410), and then toggle presence indication input 450 to “available” to begin calling from presence enabled telephone 400 based on each buddy's availability.

In another example, the user may desire to have a conference call with more than one buddy. Thus, communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 may be used alternatively to indicate a conference call with more than one buddy where the “rendezvous” function polls more than one buddy's presence indication. When all buddies are “available,” for example, the conference call is initiated to all desired participants. In this way, the user need not specifically arrange for availability of each buddy, but rather, depend upon their presence status to initiate the conference call.

As discussed herein, the user inputs (e.g., communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426, scroll-up button 428, scroll-down button 429, and presence indication input 450) may be configured as electromechanical pushbuttons or as “soft buttons” integrated into display 410.

FIG. 5 is an example of a presence enabled mobile telephone 500 including a display and user inputs. The operation of presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is similar to that of presence enabled telephone 400 (of FIG. 4). However, in this example, presence enabled mobile telephone 500 uses a wireless network to publish the user's presence status and to receive indications of the buddies' presence statuses. Presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is configured for use with the system of FIG. 1, where presence enabled telephone 500 connects directly to SIP enabled and/or IP media delivery enabled (e.g. RTP) elements of FIG. 1, e.g. presence server 26 and media server/platform 28. Via an IP network (similar to the connection of PC 58), presence enabled telephone 500 connects to directly to VoIP networks, and connects to PSTN 12 via IP/PSTN Gateways 54 through a wireless network rather than a wired network.

The UA operates on a processor of presence enabled mobile telephone 500 to publish the presence status as indicated by presence indication input 450, which is operated by the user. Because presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is intended to be movable (e.g., mobile), the presence status of the user of presence enabled mobile telephone 500 may become “away” when presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is not communicating with a network (e.g., out of range) or turned off, The logic may be accomplished using a periodic publishing of the user's presence status to the presence server. The presence server is aware of the device type and determines that the user is “away” when a periodic signal is no longer received within a predetermined timeout (e.g., five (5) minutes). Thus, presence enabled mobile telephone 500 may indicate presence status by publishing a presence status of presence indication input 450, or also, by the determination of presence server 26 that presence enabled mobile telephone 500 has lost communications capability (e.g., presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is not communicating, or is unable to communicate, with presence server 26).

FIG. 6 is an example of a presence UA 24 as an element of a presence enabled telecommunication device 600. A processor 630 facilitates the operation of presence enabled telecommunication device 600. Communications channels 620 are input to presence enabled telecommunication device 600 via wired, and/or wireless connections and are managed by processor 630. Moreover, processor 630 may further communicate, for example, to presence server 26 to indicate a presence status (as determined by presence UA 24) or to poll presence information of buddies listed in display 410. An audio input/output 640 may include an audio input (e.g., a microphone) and an audio output (e.g., a speaker) of handset 412 (shown in FIG. 4).

Presence enabled telecommunication device 600 may include presence enabled telecommunication devices 400, 500 where UA 24 is operated in whole, or in part, on the processor enabled device. In contrast to the system of FIG. 1, the UA 24 of presence enabled telecommunication device 600 is also a part of device 600. That is to say, the logic functions, presence information, and decision making services described above with respect to UA 24 occur in whole, or in part, at presence enabled telecommunication device 600. Presence enabled telecommunication device 600 further includes display 410, and user inputs 610 (e.g., communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426, scroll-up button 428, scroll-down button 429, and presence indication input 450) which may interact directly with the logic of UA 24.

The method of communication, either telephonically, or communication channels for UA 24 and presence server 26, may be adapted for wired and/or wireless networks connections. The logic UAs 24 may send requests and/or other queries into the IP domain via IP/PSTN/Wireless Gateways 54. Moreover, the method of voice or telephonic connection may use any method (e.g., wired, wireless, PSIN, VolP, etc.). It is important to note that the communications of presence enabled telecommunication device 600 with, for example, presence server 26 may be delivered to IP/PSTN/Wireless Gateways 54 via a communications channel managed by processor 630 and being separate from a voice communications channel. Moreover, processor 630 may manage a single communications link with multiple virtual communications channels, e.g. a network connection that may include multiple channels for voice and/or data. Thus, a wired device or wireless device may communicate with multiple recipients depending upon implementation, but may use the same physical layer connection to facilitate multiple communications channels (e.g., voice and presence information exchange).

In an example, presence enabled telecommunication device 600 includes a network communication link (e.g. wireless or wired) as an IP network 640. Processor 630 manages a voice channel (for telephonic communication) and a control channel (e.g., for communicating via SIMPLE (SIP Proxy) to presence server 26). Thus, processor 630 manages both a telecommunications channel and a data communications channel. IP network 640 provides access to a typical IP network allowing VoIP calling and other services including access to presence server 26, as well as providing access to IP/PSTN/Wireless Gateways 54, Thus, IP network 640 allows for multiple data and voice channels, each using a variety of, or a combination of, formats and physical layers (e.g., IP, PSTN, wired, wireless, etc.). Additionally, the telecommunications channel and data communications channel may be virtual connections that pass through the same physical interface (e.g., wired or wireless), or they may be separate in form and/or physical connection. Moreover, processor 630 may further control more than one telecommunications channel (eg., conference calling) and data communications channel (e.g. presence messaging and general user messaging including text, video, and e-mail). For the data communications channel, processor 630 may send availability status information to presence server 26 and also receive presence information for each of buddies 430, 432, 434, 436 (or any others) that may be shown in display 410 or are selected for initiating a call.

FIG. 7 illustrates an availability process 700 of indicating a presence status change for use with the method 200 of FIG. 3. Availability process 700 beings at step 710 where the process waits for the user to press presence indication input 450 (shown in FIGS. 4 and 5). Availability process 700 operates on presence enabled telecommunication device 600 and may be part of UA 24, a separate process, or include portions of UA 24 and a separate process. When the user presses presence indication input 450, availability process 700 determines that the user desires to change the presence information published for presence enabled telecommunication device 600. The process then proceeds to step 720.

At step 720, availability process 700 determines which presence state (e.g., available, away, etc.) presence enabled telecommunication device 600 should indicated. For example, when a user is talking on presence enabled telecommunication device 600, availability process 700 will make a determination of, e.g. “on-hook.” However, when the user is not talking on presence enabled telecommunication device 600, the presence status is typically “available” or “away.” When presence indication input 450 is triggered, availability process 700 will toggle the presence information published to presence server 26 between “available” and “away.” The process then proceeds to step 730.

At step 730, UA 24 is notified by availability process 700 of the new presence status of presence enabled telecommunication device 600 (e.g., “away” or “available”). UA 24 then notifies presence server 26. With the notification, presence server 26 may notify the other “buddies” of the new presence status related to presence enabled telecommunication device 600 or the user. The process continues at step 710.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a rendezvous process 800 for use with the system 10 of FIG. 1. UA 24 receives inputs for particular buddies that the user wishes to call. In the example shown for rendezvous process 800, the user is initiating rendezvous calls for multiple “buddies” having presence information available. Rendezvous process 800 begins at step 810 where the user switches the availability of presence enabled telecommunication device 600 to “away” by toggling presence indication input 450. As described below in detail, setting the availability of device 600 to “away” will allow for fast call programming of multiple rendezvous recipients to be achieved without interruption. The process continues at step 820.

At step 820, the user selects the desired rendezvous buddies. The user may scroll through display 410 using scroll-up button 428 and scroll-down button 429 until the desired buddy (e.g., buddy 430, 432, 434, 436) is shown. Then, the user presses communication session initiation buttons 420, 422, 424, 426 to indicate a desire to place a call to the respective buddy. By setting the availability of device 600 to “away” the user has essentially delayed beginning the rendezvous function, because the user is not “available.” By making the user themselves “away,” the buddies selected for rendezvous calls may be selected before any calls are made. This allows the user to input all of the rendezvous calls in a single step without interruption. The process continues at step 830.

At step 830, after the user has selected all of the desired rendezvous calls, tie user switches the availability of presence enabled telecommunication device 600 to “available” by toggling presence indication input 450. The process continues at step 840.

At step 840, UA 24 polls the availability of each buddy (e.g., buddy 430, 432, 434, 436) selected above at step 820 in the order of input. Determining the availability of each buddy may be achieved by having UA 24 query presence server 26 for status updates of each buddy of interest (e.g. buddy 430, 432,434, 436). In an example, polling the availability of each buddy is achieved by having presence server 26 send presence status updates to UA 24. In an alternative example, UA 24 may poll presence server 26 periodically as to the availability status of each buddy. The order of input for a rendezvous call is shown, in an example, where buddy 430 is selected for a rendezvous call first, and buddy 436 is selected second, UA 24 polls the availability of buddy 430 before buddy 436. However, when a buddy is not “available,” the process continues polling with the next buddy in the order of selection. The polling process runs continuously until one of the selected buddies becomes available. When one of the selected buddies becomes available, the process continues at step 850. Otherwise, the process continues to repeat at step 840 until one of the selected buddies becomes available.

At step 850, presence enabled telecommunication device 600 initiates a call to the buddy identified by UA 24 above at step 840. When the call is complete, the process continues at step 840. In this way, a call is initiated for each of the buddies selected, and in the order they are input, based on their availability.

FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile presence status process 900 for determining a presence status for a mobile device for use with the presence enabled mobile telephone 500 of FIG. 5. In contrast to stationary presence enabled devices (e.g., computers used for instant messaging), presence enabled mobile telephone 500 may be moved to beyond the range of communications with a network. In this event, presence server 26 should not indicate “available,” which may have been the last indicated presence status from UA 24. Indeed, to provide accurate presence information for a mobile device, presence server 26 may require a periodic presence update from presence enabled mobile telephone 500. When the periodic presence update is not received, presence server 26 takes action to list presence enabled mobile telephone 500 as “away.” Mobile presence status process 900 begins at step 910 where presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is listed as “available.” The process continues at step 920.

At step 920, UA 24 indicates the presence as “available” and presence enabled mobile telephone 500 transmits a periodic “available” message to presence server 26. Presence server 26 resets a presence timer upon receipt of a presence indication. The process continues at step 930.

At step 930, presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is removed from contact with a network, e.g., a wireless network. Thus, UA 24 is not able to communicate presence information to presence server 26. The process continues at step 940.

At step 940, presence server 26 counts down the presence timer due to the absence of a presence signal from UA 24. If the presence timer expires (e.g., runs the total time allotted for a timeout) the process continues to step 950. If a presence signal from UA 24 is received by presence server 26, the process continues at step 920.

At step 950, presence server 26 logs the loss of communication with UA 24 and lists UA 24, as well as presence enabled mobile telephone 500, as “away.” Thus, the loss of communication of presence enabled mobile telephone 500 with a network, after a predetermined amount of time, will set the presence status to “away.” In this way, presence server 26 is not incorrectly listing presence enabled mobile telephone 500 and UA 24 as “available” when they are not able to communicate. When presence enabled mobile telephone 500 becomes connected to a network capable of communications with presence server 26, the process continues at step 920 where the availability of presence enabled mobile telephone 500 is set to the corresponding message sent by UA 24.

In addition, the techniques described herein can be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination thereof. The systems and methods can be implemented in one or more computer programs executing on one or more programmable computers, such as may be exemplified by the servers of FIG. 1, among others, that include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), one or more input devices, and one or more output devices.

The computer programs, or programs, may be preferably implemented using one or more high level procedural or object-oriented programming languages to communicate with a computer system; however, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. The language can be compiled or interpreted, The computer program(s) can be preferably stored on a storage medium or device (e.g., CD-ROM, hard disk, or magnetic disk) readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described herein. The system can also be considered to be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner.

While the method and systems have been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. As an example, those with ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the arrangement and connectivity of the components shown in the figures are merely for illustrative purposes, and can be varied accordingly and components may be combined or otherwise reconfigured without departing from the scope of the disclosed systems and methods. Accordingly, many additional changes in the details and arrangement of parts, herein described and illustrated, can be made by those skilled in the art. It will thus be understood that the following claims are not to be limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, can include practices otherwise than specifically described, and are to be interpreted as broadly as allowed under the law. 

1. A device comprising: a processor; a display configured to list a plurality of presence enabled contacts; a user agent configured to indicate a presence status of said device to a presence server, said user agent being at least partially executed by said processor; and at least one input configured to enable a device user to request a communications session with at least one of said plurality of presence enabled contacts, said request being initiated by said user agent when said requested presence enabled contact is available.
 2. The device of claim 1, further including an audio input and an audio output.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein said audio input and said audio output are used for voice communications.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the availability of said requested presence enabled contact is provided by said presence server to said processor.
 5. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a presence indication input commanding said availability status of said device to said user agent.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein said user agent transmits said availability status to said presence server.
 7. The device of claim 5, wherein said presence indication input is user operated.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein said user agent communicates with said presence server using a wireless network.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein said device is mobile and said presence server modifies said availability status when said device loses communication with said presence server.
 10. A device comprising: an audio input and an audio output configured for telephonic calling; a processor; a display configured to list a plurality of contacts, wherein at least one of said contacts is presence enabled; at least one input configured to request a communication session with at least one of said plurality of contacts; and a user agent configured to indicate an availability status of said device to a presence server, said user agent being at least partially executed by said processor.
 11. The device of claim 10, further comprising. a user input to command said availability status of said device to said user agent.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein said processor initiates said telephonic calling.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein said processor selectively connects said device with a called party.
 14. The device of claim 10, further comprising a telecommunications channel, said processor controlling the operation of said telecommunications channel.
 15. The device of claim 10, further comprising a data communications channel, said processor controlling the operation of said data communications channel.
 16. The device of claim 15, wherein said user agent sends said availability status to said presence server via said data communications channel.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein said user agent receives presence information of said presence enabled contacts from said presence server via said data communications channel.
 18. The device of claim 10, wherein said user agent initiates a communications session with said requested at least one of said plurality of contacts when said device and said requested at least one of said plurality of contacts are available.
 19. The device of claim 10, wherein said user agent initiates said communications session with a first available contact of said requested at least one of said plurality of contacts when said device and said requested at least one of said plurality of contacts are available.
 20. The device of claim 10, wherein said device is mobile and said presence server modifies said availability status when said device does not communicate with said presence server within a predetermined time.
 21. A method comprising: indicating an away status of a presence enabled communication device; selecting at least one presence enabled contact; indicating an available status of a presence enabled communication device; and initiating a call to at least one of said selected contacts when said presence enabled communication device and said at least one of said selected presence enabled contacts are available.
 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: selecting a conference call contact; and wherein said initiating said call is performed when said presence enabled communication device, said at least one of said selected contacts, and said conference call contact are available.
 23. The method of claim 21, further comprising: executing said indicating an away status, indicating said available status, and initiating said call, each part of a user agent; whereby said user agent executes on a processor within said presence enabled communication device.
 24. The method of claim 21, further comprising: sending a periodic message to a presence server; and indicating an away status of said presence enabled communication device when said periodic message is not received by said presence server for a predetermined time.
 25. The method of claim 21, further comprising: polling a presence server for a presence status of said selected presence enabled contacts. 